Fresno police officer William McCarty tops to feeds hungry

Fresno police officer William McCarty stops to feed hungry, stray dog who was picking through trash.

For a brief moment Monday, a few parents of students at Edison-Bethune Charter Academy were startled to see a police car across the street as school was let out Monday afternoon in southwest Fresno.

But upcoming closer examination, any worries were quickly eased after learning a Fresno Police officer was merely lending a helping hand to a stray dog who’s known around the neighborhood as being friendly, though somewhat dangerous looking.

Marty Solis, a truancy officer at Edison-Bethune, snapped a photo of police officer William McCarty down on one knee while feeding a hungry, stray pit bull mix who was sifting through trash and was trying to eat a dead squirrel in the middle of the road.

McCarty apparently had noticed the pit bull mix walking around the neighborhood earlier and decided to make a quick stop in a nearby store for dog food.

He then placed a bowl of dog food along a sidewalk to prevent the dog from going on the road to eat the squirrel, and eventually gave the dog more food after it scarfed down on the first bowl.

The dog was so skinny, its ribs were exposed from its side, Solis said.

“It was cool to see the officer do that,” said Solis, who’s worked at the elementary school for 17 years. “You know, usually when the kids see an officer, they think something bad happened. Some of the parents had stopped and were worried.